The is a novelty toy made by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

in 1969. Designed "for young ladies and men", the device tries to determine how much two people love each other. To operate the device, both users grab one of the connected spherical metal sensors with one hand and hold each other's hands with the other; the

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

on the device displays their "love score" on a scale between 1 and 100. The Love Tester was designed by

Gunpei Yokoi , sometimes transliterated Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese video game designer. He was a long-time Nintendo employee, best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped Control Pad, the original designer of th ...

(eventual creator of the

Game & Watch The Game & Watch brand ( ''Gēmu & Uotchi''; called ''Tricotronic'' in West Germany and Austria, abbreviated as ''G&W'') is a series of handheld electronic games developed, manufactured, released, and marketed by Nintendo from 1980 in video gam ...

series and the original

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

), who said that he "loved explaining that the meter gave better results when people kissed the girl..." It was the first product by Nintendo to use real electronic components. It was also one of the few products by Nintendo during the 1960s that was sold outside Japan. The device was marketed in Western markets as a "Love/Lie Detector". It was also released as part of a "Mini Game Series", and other versions of the device were packaged differently and contained English instructions. It was advertised heavily on Japanese television, with commercials that have gained a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

. It originally sold for . In July 2010, the Love Tester was re-released in Japan by Tenyo, featuring the original packaging, and officially endorsed by Nintendo. Website

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...

reported in 2010 that the device sells for US$55. The Love Tester is considered one of the most sought-after products from Nintendo's earlier years and is considered one of the most unusual products created by Nintendo. The Love Tester was featured as a "DooDad" in '' WarioWare: Twisted'' for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

and as the "Prototype Detector" in ''

Pikmin 2 is a 2004 real-time strategy puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube home video game console. It is the direct sequel to the 2001 game ''Pikmin'' and is the second game in the ''Pikmin'' series. Like its predecesso ...

'' for the

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

and

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

. It also appears as a collectible item in '' Animal Crossing: New Leaf'' and can be found as an Easter egg in '' The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D''. Furthermore, in ''

Chee-Chai Alien is a video game developed by Creatures, Inc. and released on the Game Boy Color in Japan on February 27, 2001. It utilizes the Game Boy Color's infrared port and has a built-in rumble feature. It is compatible with the Game Boy Printer. Becau ...

'' for the

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

, Chailien No. 113 Rabuta (ラブタ) is a Love Tester with arms and legs. In ''

WarioWare Gold ''WarioWare Gold'' is a minigame compilation co-developed by Nintendo EPD and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS family of video game consoles. The ninth installment in the ''WarioWare'' series, it was released i ...

'', the Love Tester was featured as a collectable and also an upgraded version called Love Tester 2.0 appears but acts different. One player must draw half a heart while the other finishes it showing the love score. A software remake of the Love Tester, called the Compat-I-Com, appears as a Gaddget in

Mario Party Advance is a party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. Released in 2005, it is the first handheld game in the Mario Party, ''Mario Party'' series, and differs from other titles in that the game is most ...

for the Game Boy Advance.

References

{{Nintendo Company Nintendo toys 1960s toys Electronic toys

See also

References